mac oh so fair beauty powder

MAC Tartan Tale: Hark the Heraldry Face Kit

The Hark the Heraldry Face Kit ($38.00) includes two blushes and a beauty powder: Dame (sophisticated blue-pink), Plum Foolery (faint dusty plum), and Oh So Fair (pale pink; beauty powder). Both Dame and Plum Foolery are permanent shades. Oh So Fair was recently released with Venomous Villains.

Dame is a subtly blue-toned medium pink that can go on sheer or be built up. On darker skin tones, this may not show up very well, though. It has a satin finish, so it has a softer sheen, less frostiness in its finish. This is a nice shade for everyday, and it’s particularly flattering on cooler, paler skin tones.

Plum Foolery is a semi-sheer, rosy plum with a frosted sheen. This shade does work well on a variety of skin tones, and despite it being sheer, it does pack a punch on cheeks if you’re not careful.

Oh So Fair is a soft, petal pink with subtle shimmer-sheen. It’s sheer and looks very, very subtle on my medium skin tone. I wouldn’t recommend this shade for darker skin tones, because I think it would have a tendency to turn ashy.

Each blush is 0.13 oz. (full-size is 0.21 oz.), while the beauty powder is 0.20 oz. (full size is 0.35 oz.). Ultimately, you’re getting approximately $23 worth of blush and $14 worth of beauty powder–total value around $37 with a price tag of $38. It’s not a value palette based on quantity of products, but you do get three products for $38 instead of buying two blushes ($18.50 each) and a beauty powder ($25.00) separately.

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Product: 28/30

Value: 7/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: I really like the face kits, because sometimes MAC blushes can be too expensive to purchase on their own, so this palette lets you try more for less–and you won’t get through a pan any time soon.

MAC Venomous Villains Look: Evil Queen

Here’s a look using just the products from the Evil Queen’s portion of Venomous Villains. I wanted to come up with something that utilized that color palette just to show you a possibility of how they’d come together.

While I really like the eyeshadows together, I had trouble pairing the lips using the products from the Evil Queen. Sinister felt a little dark, and it definitely needs a lipgloss on top (it’s a little streaky), but Hot House would have made for a very strong, dramatic look overall, and I wanted something more wearable.

Though I wasn’t keen on pairing corals with such a cool-eyed look, I figured–why not give it a try? Let’s see how it works! Not horrible but not my favorite. Something like Snob or VG Gaga (or any of the numerous limited edition variations thereof) would have worked beautifully–even if topped with Strange Potion.

For eyes, start by applying Smudgeproof as your eyeshadow base all over the eye area with the 249. Using the 239, apply Her Alter Image eyeshadow on the inner half of the lid and pull upwards along the inner crease. Lightly blend Vainglorious eyeshadow on the outer half of the lid and into the crease with the 226. Next, apply Vile Violet eyeshadow onto the middle of the lid with the 236, lightly blending onto the outer lid. Blend Trench eyeshadow with the crease shade and highlight the brow bone. Bring everything together by applying Ransom liner on the lower lash line. Finish by sweeping lashes with Plushlash mascara.

For cheeks, apply Oh So Fair beauty powder on the apples of the cheeks and sweep upwards towards the temple with the 116.